Chapter 2

As soon as the words came out, we ran.

“Which way did they go?” Wes stopped at the corner, looking both ways. I strained to listen for any sound of the Drone that guarded this part of the Provincial and the team of Inquisition Officers working with it.

I couldn’t.

My heart pounded heavily with adrenaline, and the sound rushed into my ears. I wasn’t good at this part; Abbey was so much better. Though my eldest sister refused to acknowledge her powers even existed, she was better at most things and part of me wished she were here now.

I felt the small tremor of wind. That’s how it always began. The wind lifted my spirit off the ground, carrying me up. For a moment in time, I separated from my body. I hovered off the ground of 5th Avenue North, just above my own head before the gust of magical wind swept my spirit down the street, around the corner, and on to Union Street. I cut onto 4th Avenue North and spiraled onto Church St. I stopped just below the still lit neon sign that read Printer’s Alley. The wind died down and fluttered like a gentle breeze around me.

Now, I could see the Drone. It was smashed into the ground, smoke rising from its engine. Five Inquisition Officers stood guard around it. I recognized several faces including Jonathon Baulder, my partner. They were fighting a trio of demons and around the corner, down the street, I could see at least ten more coming. The last thing I saw was an officer getting thrown against a wall before my spirit snapped back into my body.

There was little time to recover from the shock that always followed a spirit-trip. I grabbed Wes’s arm and tugged him in the direction of Printer’s Alley. “This way!””

The run wasn’t that far, and it didn’t take long with empty streets. Soon, we were on Church Street, and we heard the sounds of the battle, and I saw the smoke rising from the Drone.

“How the hell did you know that?” Wes gave me an uncertain, distrusting look that I didn’t have time to be offended by.

“Saw the smoke.”

Another lie.

“They’re going to get killed!”

“Thanks for the news flash. So are we if we don’t do something.”

“So, how about we do something?” For once, Wes and I agreed on something. We hurried toward the officers and the witches descending quickly down the alley.

“Any brilliant ideas?” Wes asked.

“Yo, Buttface!”

Wes looked at me with something between amusement and disbelief on his face.

“Really, Khloe? Buttface?” But it worked. A witch turned its attention on me. I stared at it, wide-eyed. The thing was the ugliest creature I’d ever seen. It looked like it used to be human. A woman, I thought. It had long, brown hair that clung to its dirtied face. Its skin was scaled and roughed like stretched leather. Its veins glowed bright blue in the moonlight. It wore nothing but a small rag to cover its deformed chest and waist. I felt pity for it until the creature charged and let out the most hideous, ear-splitting screech I’d ever heard. Any sympathy I had for the creature was lost.

“Khloe!” Baulder shouted, charging forward. In his hand, something glinted silver. A sword? It was a long silver blade that shone in the moonlight as he dragged it clear across the creature’s neck, severing it. The head rolled to the ground, and before the body fell, it turned to ashes.

“Hey, partner.” Baulder gave me a toothy grin.

“Just in time for the show.” He tossed me the silver blade.

“You know me. Always on cue,” I teased, catching the blade single handedly.

“The Robin to my Batman.” He laughed and gave me a playful wink.

“Always.” I raised the sword in salute.

“See you when it’s over.”

“Countin’ on it.” I grinned back and turned my attention to the fight. Wes had three witches gathered around him. They were erratic. Starved. They would be easy to get rid of. I charged the nearest one, slamming the sword clear through its vertebrae, listening to the sickening crunch of the creature’s neck before it turned to dust. The body count dropped in seconds.

The fight that started out as a death warrant ended in a matter of minutes with the witches losing. Silence followed the aftermath of the last kill. The group of officers dissipated, and Maxx Evergreen, Wes’s father and head of the Inquisition Unit, hurried through the crowd.

“What the hell were you kids thinking?”

Wes and I exchanged glances. “We thought we were helping,” Wes said, staring up at his father defiantly.

“Helping? You kids could’ve gotten us all killed.” Maxx was furious. Oops.

“We didn’t; in fact, we saved your team.” I crossed my arms.

“They’d all be dead if we hadn’t shown up,” Wes agreed. I couldn’t help but smile. For once, this felt like old times. This was the Wes Evergreen that I know.

“You broke every rule in the book tonight—” Maxx was saying, but I was barely listening. I noticed movement behind Maxx. Several officers were gathering around something. Someone. A body. I pushed past Maxx and through the small crowd of uniforms and found my partner, Baulder, lying on the ground.

“What happened?” I fell to his side, surveying the damage.

“Looks like a couple of graze wounds. Nothing major, he’ll live. The Sector’s sending a medevac,” a red headed officer said. I knew his face, though his name was forgotten. Right now, my only concern was my partner.

“Don’t worry about me, baby girl. I’m fine. Ain’t no witch going to take me down!” He gave me his toothy grin.

“’Course not. I’ll see you at the hospital, big guy.” I laughed.

“Nah, there’s going to be a ton of paperwork to get done. You should get a head start on that.”

“Because you care so much about paperwork. You just don’t want to have to do any.” I rolled my eyes. He laughed.

“You got it.” He winked.

“See you later.” I shook my head, standing up. He gave me a thumbs up. As I stepped back, the medevac arrived, and he was swarmed by Sector Police and emergency workers. Wes stood beside me, and we watched in silence as they loaded Baulder up and drove off.

“He’ll be fine,” Wes said. He laid a hand on my shoulder. Something I assumed was supposed to be comforting, but it was more awkward than anything. Suddenly, the distance was back between us again.

“I know.”

“Let’s get you two home,” Maxx said, stepping up beside us. He looked exhausted. His green eyes were aged beyond his forty-five years, and the dark circles under them made him look like some kind of ancient warrior.

“Are we in trouble?” Wes asked. Maxx looked at him for a moment, same green eyes taking us in.

“Probably would’ve been a lot worse if you two hadn’t shown up.” He shook his head. I almost felt bad for him. Almost. He was the one killing innocent witches. He made it impossible for us to do our jobs. So I didn’t feel too much sympathy.

Quietly, Wes and I started to climb into the back of one of the Inquisition Vans pulled to the side of the road. I set the sword I was still carrying into the back first and made my way to crawl in after. The step was high, though, so I jumped. Taking the small leap, my head spun. I stumbled.

Everything spun and faded before clearing again. Wes and Maxx held me up.

“Khloe! Are you okay?” Wes’s gripped me tight enough to bruise.

“Fine, fine. Just tired,” I replied, pulling from his grasp. I started to climb into the van again. Just like before, my vision blurred, and my head spun. The alley vanished, and I swear I saw forest instead of brick walls, but then that too vanished, and I was overtaken by darkness instead.

The last thing I heard before I fell into unconsciousness was the sound of an owl hooting in the distance and a wolf’s howl.